Hi, We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 teens) and we are planning a short visit to Bar Harbor/Acadia this August. We will be there for a long weekend in August (NOT LABOR DAY!). I have checked out rates and places and I am deciding between the Holiday Inn Sunspree and the Harborside Hotel and Marina. We would like to be close to town and also have a pool and nice grounds and clean/nice rooms. The rates are close (although the Holiday Inn is cheaper). Which would you choose - or do you have another suggestion? I don't want to spend any more than these rates as I need two rooms. I am seeing rates between $130 and $180. Thanks for help, Susan.

Harborside is much nicer, newly renovated. Holiday Inn is just okay.

You might want to check out the 4-room suites (2 bedrooms 2 baths) in this B&B. There's a 4-day minimum.

http://www.miramonte.com/suites.html

Your question is timely as I am also researching where to stay with a family of four for 3 nights in July.

I haven't called yet, but my top choice right now may be Bar Harbor Motel. www.barharbormotel.com

They appear to have a similar location to the Holiday Inn(near the ferry, 1 mi to NP entrance, 1 mi to BH). They have 2BR family units for $169/night - one King bed and in a separate room 2 double beds. Based on their website pictures, the grounds look nice, the rooms look fine, and they have a pool and laundry facilities.

Is anyone familiar with this place - any positive or negative comments???

For families I would recommend parkentrancemotel.com, but it is not in the downtown area.

oops, that's parkentrance.com Sorry

Hi, This is Susan again. I am torn between either the Holiday Inn and the Harborside Hotel. I like the fact that the Harborside is newly renovated, but the Holiday Inn seems to have a nice layout and the big pool and outdoor bar look awfully inviting! This short Bar Harbor break is at the end of a road trip so we would like to relax and be able to enjoy beautiful surroundings and amenities. Since we have the kids with us, a B&B won't work. So, between these two places - which would you choose? And, is the Holiday Inn far from town? Too far? Thanks, Susan

Hi-
We stayed at the Atlantic Oakes which is right near the Cat to Canada and they were right on the ocean, clean, clean rooms, nice staff, great buffet breakfast, rates were really reasonable,
www.barharborresort.com indoor and outdoor pools, tennis, neat beach and they also have a bed and breakfast on the site which is in this beautiful mansion. Also grounds are lovely.

These recommendations look nice, but we are looking for something close to town. This is just a short stop (it may even be reduced to 2 nights!) and we would like a pretty place, near town. We do want nice grounds and a decent sized pool. I should add that we are not exactly looking for a typical family place. My kids are older and wouldn't care to be over-run by younger kids.(more prevalent at family places) So, different recommendations? Susan.

It's me again, your fellow Bar Harbor hotel researcher.

Address of Harborside is 55 West St. I mapped it on Mapquest and it's right in town, on the water, as far as I can tell. Holiday Inn is 1 mile outside of town.

So for close to town, Harborside wins. Above, clarkgriswold says Harborside is nicer, and from the pictures on the websites, it did look more attractive to me than Holiday Inn. Didn't see any info on pool sizes for either.